Developers open pockets for Rilling’s re-election bid

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling has received thousands of dollars in contributions from developers for his re-election campaign.

NORWALK — In his bid for a third term, Mayor Harry W. Rilling has touted that his administration is “Moving Norwalk Forward.”

Rilling, a Democrat and the city’s former police chief, counts redevelopment as evidence of that forward momentum and developers concur, having donated generously to his re-election bid.

Paxton Kinol and Brandon Lacoff, managing directors with Waypointe developer Belpointe Capital, each have kicked in $1,000, according to finance disclosure reports filed with the Norwalk Town Clerk’s Office.

“I think the mayor is doing a very good job of moving the city forward,” Kinol said. “This time last year I had come to (the city) with a list of issues and things that we needed help with, and I was really pleasantly surprised by the way the city moved to help us resolve the issues.”

Kinol, who stresses that he’s neither a Democrat nor Republican, counted among those issues securing a final certificate of occupancy for the first phase of the Waypointe development.

Local developer Stanley Seligson, also part of the Waypointe team, has made two $500 contributions to Rilling’s campaign, according to finance disclosure reports.

Most of Norwalk’s major redevelopment projects are a decade in the making. Planning began well before Rilling first took office in November 2013. But construction has reached a feverish pitch over the last four years as evidenced by Waypointe along West Avenue, the Head of the Harbor development on upper Smith Street and completion of The SoNo Pearl on Washington Street and Ironworks SoNo on North Water Street.

Rilling and his predecessors, as a matter of protocol, have steered clear of commenting on development applications pending before the city’s Zoning Commission. A chief elected official opining for or against a development can land a municipality in trouble if the commission rejects the plan and the matter goes to court. But mayors have answered developers’ questions beforehand and afterward worked with them to jump-start previously approved projects.

Upon first taking office in November 2013, Rilling brought officials together to get work started on Wall Street Place. POKO Partners broke ground in 2015, but construction halted amid financing problems. The mayor and city officials have expressed optimism that work will resume once a new developer comes aboard.

Rilling said developers are pleased with Norwalk’s direction.

“They feel they’re being treated fairly,” Rilling said. “They feel Norwalk is becoming a destination and they’d like to see things continue the way they are going.”

John DiScala and Joseph Breault of Sedona Group, LLC — a division of Head of the Harbor developer M.F. DiScala & Co. — each have given $1,000 to Rilling’s campaign, according to finance disclosure reports filed with the town clerk.

“I think he’s doing a great job growing Norwalk,” said DiScala, president of Sedona Group. “I’ve noticed that (the city has) been a lot more developer-friendly in the sense they don’t have to jump through a thousand hoops.”